Names chosen for Guernsey Electricity’s new engines

GUERNSEY Electricity’s two new diesel engines will be renamed Trudy and Freddy next month.

The company decided to invite islanders to suggest new names for the diesel engines, which are currently known as 2D and 3D, ahead of the second of the engines being switched on. More than 75 entries were considered by the five panel members, who were only given the suggested engine names and any explanatory information to ensure the decision was independent.

‘There were some fantastic suggestions and the majority had chosen either names associated with Guernsey or that had been inspired by history. The panel all felt that given how important the engines are to island life, they should have their own names rather than being named after something or someone,’ said Sally-Ann David, asset management director for Guernsey Electricity.

‘We thought Trudy and Freddy was a clever play on their original names and gave them a bit of a personality.’

Mrs David was joined on the panel by Guernsey Electricity’s trainee of the year Jordan Pipet; Mary Snelling from the Vale Floral Group who also sits on the Guernsey Electricity community liaison group; John Hollis from the States of Guernsey and Rhiannon Mellas from the Youth Forum.

Mike Hamon came up with the winning names and will switch on the £15m. engine at the end of April. His name, along with the engines’ new names, will be engraved on a plaque which will be unveiled at the same time.

‘I was quite surprised that my names were chosen. I knew lots of people would think of Guernsey names and so I wanted to be a bit different and that approach obviously struck a chord with the panel,’ said Mr Hamon, who works in the IT department at Guernsey Electricity and was one of only a handful of employees who suggested names.